UCL ABACUS Constitution

The Aims Of ABACUS

The aims of UCLU ABACUS are underlined in the constitution. These aims are summarised below:

To increase the awareness of the presence of Chinese within the British Society.
The Promotion of the Chinese Culture within Britain and the integration of these two cultures.
To improve the social interactions of Chinese and other cultures alike.
To promote equal opportunities and remove unfair prejudices and stereotypes.
To form links between groups of similar objectives - to communicate with them and exchange information.
The provision of a support network.
The provision of a social network.

 

Constitution Of The University College London Union Association of British And Chinese University Students (UCLU ABACUS)

A. Names and Definitions

A. 1. The name of the society shall be the University College London Union
Association of British And Chinese University Students, hereafter known as UCLU ABACUS, or the Society.

A. 2. The term 'Union' shall refer to the University College London Union and the Sabbatical officers in the committee.

A. 3. The term 'College' shall refer to University College and any other Further Education Institutions located in the City of London.

A. 4. The term 'member' shall refer to all paid members who are studying or conducting research at the College (defined above), including Honorary members.

A. 5. The term 'founder member' shall refer to the original members of UCLU ABACUS at the time of registration.

A. 6. The third party will be referred to in the masculine tense and refers to either gender when appropriate.

B. Aims and Objectives

UCLU ABACUS shall seek to further the integration and promotion of the affairs of the Chinese Community in Britain. These aims will be achieved by:

a) Increasing awareness of the presence of Chinese within British Society.

b) Promotion of the Chinese culture within Britain and the integration of these two cultures.

c) Improving the social interactions of Chinese and other cultures alike.

d) To promote equal opportunities and remove unfair prejudices and stereotypes.

e) To form links between groups of similar objectives - to communicate with them and exchange information.

f) The provision of a support network. g) The provision of a social network.

C. Memberships

C. 1. Membership of the Society is open to all members of UCL and any other persons or organizations that apply to the committee for membership. The committee shall not refuse an application on the grounds of race, religion, nationality, political views, sex, sexuality or disability.

C. 2. All members of UCLU ABACUS will have equal access to society events and general society information.

C. 3. There shall be a non-refundable (life or annual) membership fee, which shall be fixed by the Committee. Membership is conditional on any outstanding fees being paid.

C. 4. The Committee shall have the rights to offer membership and honorary membership to any persons or organizations it sees fit.

C. 5. The Committee reserves the right to expel or suspend any member for behaviour likely to bring the Society into disrepute, though the member concerned has the right to be heard by the Committee before the final decision is made.

C. 6. The founding members of UCLU ABACUS have hereby been granted honorary life memberships to UCLU ABACUS in recognition of their work and dedication in setting up the Society.

D. Committee

The Committee shall direct the policy and management of the affairs of the Society. In order for the Society to run, there must be at least a Committee consisting of the Core positions, which shall consist of the President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, and External Affairs Officer.

Any policies or affairs that are to be passed must be approved by a majority vote in the Committee.

All Committee members are obliged to attend all meetings.

Responsibilities of the Committee members in addition to those associated with the general work required for the running of the Society are stated below:

D. 1. CORE COMMITTEE POSITIONS

President's duties, functions and powers:

Ensure the aims of the Constitution are addressed.
Overall co-ordination of the Society.
Spokesperson and representative of the Society.
Shall attend and chair all official meetings.
Liaise with Committee members and ensure all society members are aware of issues relevant to them. ?
Answerable to members in all matters affecting the Society.
Answerable to the Union regarding the state of the Society.

Vice-President's duties, functions and powers:

Assist the President in the overall co-ordination of the Society affairs.
Shall represent the President in Society meetings and functions where appropriate.
In the President's absence, the Vice-President is to assume his constitutional responsibilities.

Secretary's duties, functions and powers:

Shall keep all members briefed on matters affecting the Society, either by E-mail or by other means, but shall respect the privacy of the members.
Shall ensure all the Society files are up to date.
Shall record and archive all official Society meeting minutes and policy documents.
Shall update the Society constitution when required.
Shall maintain an up to date membership list and will liaise with the Treasurer to address membership issues.

Treasurer's duties, functions and powers:

Shall be ultimately responsible for the Society finances and will have power of veto over all financial affairs.
Shall be responsible for payments and collections of monies owing or owed by the Society.
Shall be responsible for payments and collections of subscription fees.
The Treasurer shall keep up to date records of membership payments and shall inform the Secretary of amendments when appropriate.
Shall be responsible for co-ordinating all sponsorship and funding activities.
Shall be co-signatory with the President, for all Society cheques (where applicable).
Shall advise and make recommendations at general meetings of financial implications of proposals and decisions.
Shall make details of accounts available to the President or Secretary within a reasonable time after a request to do so.
Shall produce a budget of each event that the Society plans to hold, at least one month in advance of the date of the event, to be shown to the Committee at the next general meeting.
Shall ensure that the accounts are audited annually and shall present audited accounts (if appropriate) at the AGM.

External Affairs Officer's duties, functions and powers:

Shall be responsible for the co-ordination of all external affairs.
Shall be responsible for forging links with organizations, bodies and agencies that will help in achieving the aims and objectives of the Society.
Shall maintain contact with the Society's Alumini.
Shall, with the aid of the Editor and Publicity Officer, produce newsletters every term or annually and ensure that the Alumini are aware of the Society's events.
In particular ensure that the relevant correspondence are sent.
Shall be responsible for liasing with the External Officer of ABACUS societies at other universities.
Shall be responsible for liasing with the External Officer of other societies in the university.

D. 2. NON-CORE COMMITTEE POSITIONS

Editor's duties, functions and powers:

Shall be responsible to publish and distribute the Society's newsletter, either every term or annually.
Shall, together with the Treasurer, produce a budget on the costs of producing the newsletter.
Shall liaise with the Publicity Officer, Education Officer, Entertainments Officer and External Officer about up-coming events so that they can be publicised in the next newsletter.
Shall be responsible for the articles to be included in the newsletter, and where possible contact members for articles to be written.

Education Officer's duties, functions and powers:

Shall be responsible for the cultural and educational aspects of the Society.
Shall organize and publicise schemes like the language exchange scheme and providing support for the TARGET SCHOOLS SCHEME for Chinese Schools.
Shall promote the Chinese culture and liaise with the Entertainments Officer to organize some cultural events.
Shall, with the External Officer, organize career talks and other events that might be of interest to the Society and its members.
Shall network with other Chinese Schools.

Entertainments Officer's duties, functions and powers:

(This position was formally known as the Social Secretary and will hereby be formally known as the Entertainments Officer.)

Shall be responsible for the organization and execution of the Society's social calendar.
Shall organize each term's events and ensure that the events are properly publicised, with the aid of the Publicity Officer.
Shall liaise with the Treasurer to consider projected costs of events, projected revenues and projected 'break even' points.

Publicity Officer / Web Co-Ordinator's duties, functions and powers:

Shall be responsible for the design and production of the posters and flyers for events, and where necessary, the design and production of tickets for that event.
Shall liaise with the Treasurer to produce a budget for the publicity of every event.
Shall liaise with the Education Officer, Entertainments Officer and External Officer to produce posters about up-coming events.
Shall make sure that the posters and flyers abide by the Union rules.
Shall be responsible (where possible) in designing and up keeping of the Society's web page.

Sports Secretary's duties, functions and powers:

Shall organize and calendar all sporting events of the year.
Shall liaise with the Sports Secretary of other societies organizing inter-society sports competitions.
Shall liaise with the Sports Secretary of other ABACUS societies organizing inter-ABACUS sports competitions.
Shall be responsible for the booking of venues and organization of practices of all sporting events.
Shall inform the Committee of all publications prior to distribution.

 

Revised: 27th May 2004